A criminal case for large-scale fraud was initiated during the construction of the radiology department of the oncologic dispensary in Abakan after a prosecutor's inspection in the Republic of Khakassia. The damage caused by the actions of the contracting organization, which is the Sinodekor company, may amount to up to 1.9 million rubles ($31,091.6.)
For 15 years, assistance to cancer patients has been provided in the adapted building of the former dermatovenerologic dispensary in Khakassia. Every year more than 2,000 people have surgery and more than 4,000 patients are treated in the chemotherapy department. In recent years, 2,500 people in the region have been diagnosed with oncology. As of Jan. 1, 2022, there were 12,410 people on the cancer registry.
“When the radiology building is launched, early cancer diagnostics will become more accessible to the residents of the republic and neighboring regions. The south of Krasnoyarsk Krai, for example. Unfortunately, this problem is acute today both in Khakassia and in Russia as a whole,” said Valentin Konovalov, Head of the Republic of Khakassia. According to the plan, the capacity of the new facility will be 336 patients a day, and 84,000 cancer patients a year.
According to the Minister of Health of the Republic Vladimir Kostyush, 1.3 billion rubles ($21.37 mln) were allocated from the federal budget for the construction of the radiological department of the oncologic dispensary. The cost of Khakassia in this project is only 1%.
Construction
In July 2019, the Department of Capital Construction of the Republic of Khakassia signed a state contract with Sinodekor for the construction of the radiology building. The cost of the contract was 352.5 million rubles ($5.33 mln.) All workd at the site were to be completed by the contractor by December 22, 2021.
According to the terms of the contract, the company was to build a building of three blocks with variable number of floors (from one to three floors) with an area of 4,300 sq. m, as well as to improve the adjacent territory.
The first floor of the building will house the reception area, consultation department, radiotherapy with a separate entrance, MRI, as well as ancillary and amenity rooms, including those for patients with limited mobility. On the second floor there will be a department of topometry and a training and methodological center, and on the third floor there will be technical premises.
In February 2022, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Khakassia Oleg Ananyevsky said that the building was completed and a permit to commission it had already been obtained. The cost of the facility was more than 1 billion rubles ($16.36 mln,) of which 615.6 million rubles ($10.07 mln) were used to purchase medical equipment.
Claims of the Prosecutor's Office
It turned out that the implementation of the national project was disrupted. A prosecutor's inspection revealed that serious violations had been committed during construction, in particular, the work was accepted despite the fact that it had not been fully completed.
As found by officials of the supervisory authorities, the contractor provided for the estimate paving slabs replaced by cheaper counterpart, the height of the planted firs do not meet the declared technical requirements, instead of four road signs installed only two.
“The act of acceptance of the work performed by the representative of the contractor included knowingly false information about the performance of the work in full in accordance with the project documentation in the amount of more than 1.9 million rubles ($31,091.6.) The criminal case was opened according to part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed on a large scale), said the regional prosecutor's office.
What Sinodekor is known for
The construction of facilities for national projects was entrusted to Sinodekor, a small firm with 9 employees. Tatiana Abrosimova is its beneficiary and manager.
“This is the second time Sinodekor has been accused of disrupting national projects. Previously, the firm figured in the case of a bribe-taker and former deputy head of Khakasia Sergey Novikov. Then Sinodekor was accused of giving Novikov a bribe of 12 million rubles ($196,368) during the construction of the Tuimsky psychoneurological boarding school.
How come such a company was entrusted with big state contracts? When money for the construction of a facility comes only from the budget (federal or republican), the contractor is determined competitively, by means of a tender or auction.
In this case, the auction, a public sale in which goods or property are sold to the bidder, who offers the lowest contract price and amount of prices of units of goods, works and services. Sinodekor offered and won while the national projects, on the contrary, lost.